Factual wrong information in "Explaining BSD"
Kristian Poul Herkild
kristian at herkild.dk
Sat Oct 21 22:06:46 UTC 2006
At this url:
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/articles/explaining-bsd/comparing-bsd-and-linux.html
it is claimed (4.5) that the GPL does not allow binary-only
distribution. It is factually wrong.
The terms GPL license clearly states it is legal to distribute only the
binaries under certain circumstances (GPL 3b+c)
--
3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of
Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:
*a) is removed
b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three
years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of
physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable
copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms
of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software
interchange; or,
c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer to
distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is allowed only
for noncommercial distribution and only if you received the program in
object code or executable form with such an offer, in accord with
Subsection b above.)
--
It would be nice to see it corrected, and the part "This is particularly
attractive for embedded applications." removed since the GPL does not
prevent usage in embedded applications. All which is required is to
follow the terms in 3b).
Kind Regards,
Kristian Poul Herkild
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